Inside Nairobi’s Action Plan To Counter Violent Extremism

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 16 (GPS)- A new plan to prevent and counter violent extremism and radicalization among the youth has been launched in Nairobi County.

The plan, dubbed “Nairobi County Action Plan” and aimed at preventing violent extremism in the County, will be implemented through the coordination and guidance of the Nairobi County Commissioner, the National Counter Terrorism Centre, the Nairobi County Government, among other partners.

Speaking on Wednesday during a roundtable meeting on its implementation, Acting Nairobi Governor Anne Kananu hailed the move saying it will help stop the radicalization of the youth.

“I thank the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) and all the different stakeholders who contributed to the development of the Nairobi City County Action Plan to Prevent and Counter Violent Extremism. Nairobi has suffered some of the worst violent extremist attacks over the last decade. This process is, therefore, a brave and significant contribution by the residents of Nairobi to address violent extremism through a participatory process,” said Kananu.

The five pillars that have been proposed in the action plan to counter extremism are the economic, education, law enforcement, ideological, and political pillars to address some of the priorities that the Nairobi City County Government is pursuing particularly to address challenges which many young people in the City face.

The County Action Plan has demarcated Nairobi into five regions: The Central Business District (CBD), Eastern, North, Southern, and Western regions.

Kananu said this will ensure that regional complexities within Nairobi County are addressed.

“I am aware that each of the Nairobi regions are in the process of developing a Sub-County Violent Extremism forum which will coordinate the implementation of the regional action plan. I urge Nairobians to engage with these regional platforms to contribute to preventing and countering violent extremism in the City. Achieving this will require those youths, women, the civil society, people with special needs (PWDs), the media, the inter-faith community, elders, the business community; operators of the public transport industry, the political leaders, and other stakeholders to be actively involved in implementing the Nairobi City CAP,” added Kananu.

The Nairobi County Action Plan will be supported by the British Government through the British High Commission’s Collective Resilience Against Extremism (CREATE) Programme.

Kananu further reiterated her confidence in the Nairobi City CAP and promised that her administration will be at the forefront in supporting the National Government’s efforts to prevent violent extremism and make the city safer.

The event was attended by the British Deputy High Commissioner Josephine Gaulid, ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs PS Charles Sunkuli, Nairobi County Commissioner Flora Mworoa, acting Director National Counter-Terrorism Center Dr. Rosalind Nyawira, Nairobi County Education CEC Janet Ouko among other guests.

The Executive Director of County Governance Watch, Kevin Osido, who was also present, welcomed the Nairobi County Action Plan adding that implementation of the plan will guarantee city residents peace and harmony.

“We thank the Nairobi City County Government under the leadership of acting Governor Anne Kananu for being progressive and strategic in the implementation of the Action Plan against violent extremism. Very soon we are going to rank Counties on their performances and I am sure Nairobi will be among the top counties in terms of performance,” said Osido.

Nairobi has suffered some of the worst terror attacks globally leaving hundreds of people dead.

Among the terror attacks is the 1997 attack of the American Embassy in Nairobi, the Westgate Mall attack in 2013, the 2019 Riverside Drive attack among other multiple improvised explosive devices (IEDs) attacks targeting several parts of Nairobi City.